Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 13 July 2022
321. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Education the number of extra school transport places that will be made available in each county to meet the additional demand following her welcome announcement of removing school transport fees; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38586/22]
View answerSchool Transport is a significant operation managed by Bus Éireann on behalf of the Department of Education. In the current school year over 121,400 children, including over 15,500 children with special educational needs, are transported on a daily basis to primary and post-primary schools throughout the country at a cost of over €289m in 2021.
The purpose of my Department's School Transport Scheme is, having regard to available resources, to support the transport to and from school of children who reside remote from their nearest school.
Under the terms of my Department’s School Transport Scheme, children are eligible for transport where they reside not less than 3.2kms at primary and 4.8kms at post-primary and are attending their nearest School/Education Centre as determined by the Department/Bus Éireann, having regard to ethos and language.
As the Deputy is aware I recently announced initiatives to assist families with back to school costs. In recognition that this is an expensive time of year for families, I have put in place measures worth over €17m which will ensure free school transport for families availing of the school transport scheme in the 2022/2023 school year. This measure will provide families with savings of up to €500 on the cost of tickets.
Families who have already paid/entered medical card details for their ticket do not need to take any further action. Families who have not yet paid for their ticket will need to confirm they still require a ticket by the 29th July 2022 and further information will issue to families shortly in this regard.
All children who are eligible for school transport and who complete the application process on time and who proceed to confirm to Bus Éireann that they require a ticket by the 29th July 2022 will be accommodated on school transport services for the 2022/23 school year where such services are in operation. The closing date for application for the 2022/23 school year was Friday 29th April 2022.
Late applicants are not guaranteed a seat and will only be allocated a seat if capacity is available.
Children who are not eligible for school transport may apply for transport on a concessionary basis only. Concessionary transport is subject to a number of terms and conditions including the availability of spare seats on an existing service. The availability of concessionary transport may vary from year to year and cannot be guaranteed for the duration of a child’s education cycle. Routes will not be extended or altered, additional vehicles will not be introduced, nor will larger vehicles or extra trips using existing vehicles be provided to cater for children travelling on a concessionary basis.
School Transport is a demand led scheme and services are planned annually based on the number of eligible pupils who apply and pay/confirm on time. The closing date for families to confirm they require a ticket for school transport for the 2022/23 school year is 29th July 2022. The final number of children to be accommodated on school transport services for the 2022/23 school year will not be known until after this date.
